5 Leaning on Jesus' breast,
May I resign my breath;
And in his kind embraces lose
The bitterness of death.
670
1st P. M. 6 lines 8s. Helpless, yet happy.
0
THOU, whose wise, paternal love Hath brought my active vigour down, Thy choice I thankfully approve; And, prostrate at thy gracious throne, I offer up my life's remains,I choose the state my God ordains.
2 Cast as a broken vessel by,
Thy work I can no longer do;
Yet while a daily death I die,
Thy power I may in weakness show:
My patience may thy glory raise,—
My speechless wo proclaim thy praise.
671
Aged and helpless.
age and feebleness extreme,
IN
Jesus, my only hope thou art,-
Strength of my failing flesh and heart:
O, could I catch a smile from thee,
And drop into eternity!
672
4th P. M. 886, 886. The aged pilgrim.
Thy love, with kind, paternal care, Sustain'd my childish days:
Thy goodness watch'd my ripening youth,
And form'd my heart to love thy truth,
And fill'd my lips with praise.
2 And now, in age and grief, thy Name
Doth still my languid heart inflame,
And bow my faltering knee:
O, yet this bosom feels the fire;
This trembling hand and drooping lyre
Have yet a strain for thee!
3 Yes; broken, tuneless, still, O Lord,
This voice, transported, shall record
Thy goodness, tried so long;
Till, sinking slow, with calm decay,
Its feeble murmurs melt away
Into a seraph's song.
673
L. M.
The aged disciple's prayer. MOREWARN'D by my Redeemer's love,
But ere my soul from earth remove,
O may I put thine image on.
2 Saviour! thy meek and lowly mind
Be to thine aged servant given;
And glad I'll drop this tent, to find
My everlasting home in heaven.
674
The dying believer.
DEATH
EATHLESS spirit, now arise;
Soar, thou native of the skies-
Pearl of price by Jesus bought,
To his glorious likeness wrought :—
2 Go to shine before the throne;
Deck the Mediator's crown;
Go, his triumphs to adorn;
Made for God, to God return.
3 Angels, joyful to attend,
Hov'ring round thy pillow bend;
Wait to catch the signal given,
And convey thee quick to heaven.
4 Burst thy shackles; drop thy clay;
Sweetly breathe thyself away;
Singing, to thy crown remove,
Swift of wing, and fired with love.
5 Shudder not to pass the stream:
Venture all thy care on Him-
Him, whose dying love and power
Still'd its tossing, hush'd its roar.
6 Safe is the expanded wave,-
Gentle as a summer's eve;
Not one object of his care
Ever suffer'd shipwreck there.
7 See the haven full in view;
Love divine shall bear thee through:
Trust to that propitious gale;
Weigh thine anchor, spread thy sail.
8 Saints in glory, perfect made,
Wait thy passage through the shade;
Swiftly to their wish be given;
Kindle higher joy in heaven.
675
The dying Christian to his soul.
Quit, O quit this mortal frame. Trembling, hoping, ling'ring, flying, O the pain, the bliss of dying! Cease, fond nature, cease thy strife, And let me languish into life.
2 Hark! they whisper: angels say,-
Sister spirit, come away!
-What is this absorbs me quite,-
Steals my senses, shuts my sight,-
Drowns my spirit, draws my breath?
Tell me, my soul, can this be death?
3 The world recedes: it disappears;
Heaven opens on my eyes; my ears
With sounds seraphic ring.
Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
O grave, where is thy victory?
Ŏ death, where is thy sting?
676
Riches of God's word.
HE counsels of redeeming grace
And here the Saviour's lovely face
Our raptured eyes behold.
2 Here light descending from above Directs our doubtful feet;
Here promises of heavenly love
Our ardent wishes meet.
4 For these inestimable gains,
That so enrich the mind,
O may we search with eager pains,
Assured that we shall find.
677
3 Our num'rous griefs are here redress'd, And all our wants supplied:
Naught we can ask to make us blest
Is in this book denied.
Excellency and sufficiency.
ATHER of mercies, in thy word
Forever be thy Name adored
For these celestial lines.
2 Here may the wretched sons of 'want Exhaustless riches find;
Riches above what earth can grant,
And lasting as the mind.
3 Here the fair tree of knowledge grows,
And yields a free repast;
Sublimer sweets than nature knows
Invite the longing taste.
4 Here the Redeemer's welcome voice
Spreads heavenly peace around;
And life, and everlasting joys,
Attend the blissful sound.
50 may these heavenly pages be
Our ever dear delight;
And still new beauties may we see,
And still increasing light.
6 Divine Instructer, gracious Lord,
Be thou forever near;
Teach us to love thy sacred word,
And view the Saviour there.
678
Light and glory of the sacred
page.
WHAT glory gilds the sacred page!
like the sun, It gives a light to every age; It gives, but borrows none.
2 The power that gave it still supplies
The gracious light and heat;
Its truths upon the nations rise:
They rise, but never set.
3 Lord! everlasting thanks be thine
For such a bright display,
As makes a world of darkness shine
With beams of heavenly day.
4 Our souls rejoicingly pursue
The steps of Him we love,
Till glory break upon our view
In brighter worlds above.
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